Metal billet piercing press

ABSTRACT

A metal-piercing press. The press is of the type having a piercing operation centerline, an auxiliary operation centerline parallel thereto, and piercing means and auxiliary means disposed on the respective centerlines. A single container is adapted to be moved between said centerlines. The container is provided with piercing preparatory means having piercing-tool-attaching means adapted to be brought into alignment with the piercing operation centerline when the container holder is in alignment with the auxiliary operation centerline.

United States Patent Inventor Akira Asart Osaka, Japan Appl. No. 820,046

Filed Apr. 29, I969 Patented Aug. 10, 197i Assignee Kobe Steel Ltd.

Priority May 11, 1968 Japan 43/31487 METAL BILLET PIERCING PRESS Primary ExaminerCharles W. Lanham Assistant ExaminerR. M. Rogers Altamey-Wenderoth, Lind & Ponack 7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs. I

US. Cl 72/325, ABSTRACT: A metappiercing press The press is of the type 72/263' 72/342 having a piercing operation centerline, an auxiliary operation lnt.Cl r. 821d 31/02, cemefline parallel thereto and piercing means and auxiliary 23/00,]321 means disposed on the respective centerlines. A single con- Fleld of Search 72/254, miner is adapted to be moved betwcen said cemeflines The 253, 1 325 container is provided with piercing preparatory means having piercing-tool-attaching means adapted to be brought into References cued alignment with the piercing operation centerline when the UNITED STATES PATENTS container holder is in alignment with the auxiliary operation 847,635 3/1907 Astfalck 72/254 centerline.

. "nun/A METAL BILLET PlERCING PRESS The present invention relates to a metal-billet-piercing press for use in a process for producing hollow metal billet by urging a piercing tool against a metal billet and moving it therethrough (there being two cases, one in which a piercing tool pierces a solid billet and the other in which an expansion tool which is a piercing tool pierces a billet formed in advance with a. narrow guide hole, thereby expanding said narrow hole).

Heretofore, as this kind of piercing press, there has generally been employed a piercing press so arranged that in consideration of problems of efficiency and construction, two operation centerlines, i.e. a piercing operation centerline where piercing means exists and an auxiliary operation centerline where auxiliary operating means exists, are parallely disposed in such a manner that one container is moved alternately to said two operation centerlines and when said con tainer is present at the piercing operation centerline, a billet received in said container is subjected to piercing operation bythe piercing means to provide a hollow billet, and thereafter said container is moved to the auxiliary operation centerline, where the hollow billet in said container is taken out of the containerby the auxiliary operating means.

' With this kind of piercing press, while auxiliary operation including the taking-out of a hollow billet, cleaning of a container and insertion of a new billet is taking place at said auxiliary operation centerline, piercing preparatory operation which is another important operation is usually taking place at the piercing operation centerline. The piercing preparatory operation applies piercing preparations to a mandrel, which constituted a main component of the piercing means, in preparation for the next piercing operation and necessarily includes the operation of attaching a piercing tool to the front end ofa mandrel and, if necessary, includes cooling ofa mandrel prior to said operation of attaching a new piercing tool.

In the conventional piercing press, however, no consideration has been given to such piercing preparatory operation as described above and it has been usual practice effect the operation manually, with the result of of the following serious problem. I

It-is usual'to locate the piercing and auxiliary operation centerlines relatively adjacently to each other for the purpose of position adjacent to the auxiliary operation cite concurrently therewith. Thus there has been a problem in that in spite of the fact that the conventional piercing press is designed to decrease the press cycle time (the time expended between the initiation of a piercing operation and the initiation of the next one) by concurrently effecting the auxiliary operation and the piercing preparatory operation, a long time is required for said piercing preparatory operation so that the intended object .cannot be fully achieved. a

The present invention is intended to cope with said problem and provides a high-efficiency piercing press equipped with piercing preparatory means for efficiently carrying out the preparatory operation thereby to rationalize said operation.

The piercing press of the present invention comprises a piercing operation centerline, auxiliary operation centerline disposed in parallel therewith, piercing means disposed at said piercing operation centerline, auxiliary operating means disposed at said auxiliary operation centerline, and a con tainer adapted to be moved alternately to said piercing opera tion centerline and said auxiliary operation centerline, wherein-the container holder of said container is provided with piercing preparatory means arranged to come into alignment with said piercing operation centerline when the con tainer holder of .said container is aligned with said auxiliary operation centerline. The piercing preparatory means is necessarily equipped with piercing-tool-attaching means for attaching a new piercing tool to the front end of a mandrel to be ready for the next piercing, an operation indispensable for the piercing preparatory operation, but if necessary, it may at the same time be equipped with mandrel-cooling means disposed in juxtaposed relation for cooling prior to said piercing-tool-attaching operation the mandrel heated in the preceding piercing operation. I

The piercing preparatory means has drive means for moving the piercing-tool-attaching means vertically on the piercing operation centerline. Further, in case mandrel'cooling means is also provided in addition to the piercing-tooLattaching means, the piercing preparatory means is provided with drive means for similarly moving the mandrel cooling means verti cally on the piercing operation centerline, and means for driv ing the piercing preparatory means in such a manner that the juxtaposed piercingtool-attaching means and mandrel-cooling means are alternately brought into alignment with the mandrel cooling means.

FIG. I is a front view, in longitudinal section, of the prin cipal portion of a metal-billetpiercing press embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front view, in longitudinal section showing the mandrel and piercing tool of said press in fitted condition;

FIG. 3 is a front view, in longitudinal section ofthe principal portion of another embodiment of a metal-billet-piercing press according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is a plan view shown in cross section taken along line A-A in FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is a longitudinal section taken along line 8-8 in FIG. 4. t

The embodiment shown in FIG, 1 illustrates a metal-billetpiercing press wherein piercing-tool-attaching means for carrying out a piercing-tool-attaching operation indispensable for piercing preparatory operation is only provided.

In said press, a piercing operation centerline C, and an auxiliary operation centerline C are parallelly disposed and at said piercing operation centerline C, there is disposed piercing means to be presently described while auxiliary operating means is disposed at said auxiliary operation centerline C,.

Thus, the numeral 1 denotes a cylindrical upset stern, which is moved vertically on the piercing work centerline C, by drive means (not shown), e.g. ordinarily employed hydraulic cylinder means. A mandrel holder 2 is fitted in the upset stem l and moved vertically on the piercing operation centerline C, by drive means (not shown), e.g. ordinarily employed hydraulic cylinder means. A mandrel 3 for attaching a piercing tool thereto is attached to the mandrel holder 2 and moved vertically on the piercing operation centerline C,. Disposed below said mandrel 3 and upset stem I are a die and a backup r )d to be described below. A bed 4 carries thereon a die-receiving disk 5 disposed on the piercing operation centerline C and having a hole, and a die 6 rests on said die-receiving disk 5. A backup rod 7 is fitted in the die 6 and die-receiving disk 5 and attached to the upper end of a backup stem 8 disposed within said bed 4, said backup stem 8 being attached to the upper end of a backup crosshead I0 through a holder 9. The backup rod 7, backup stem 8 and backup crosshead I0 are disposed on the piercing operation centerline C, and moved vertically on the piercing operation centerline C, by drive means (not shown), e.g. hydraulic cylinder means.

On the other hand, at the left-hand side of the bed 4 there is provided a hole positioned on said auxiliary work centerline C in which hole is fitted an ejecting cylinder 11 in which is fitted a ram 12 which is fixed at the lower end thereof. The ejecting cylinder is moved upward on the auxiliary operation centerline by causing fluid pressure to act in the cylinder. An ejecting rod 13 is attached to the upper end of the ejecting cylinder II and disposed on the auxiliary operation centerline C,. On the other hand, a single container 15 is disposed between said mandrel, upset stem 1 and said die 6, and the backup rod 7 is fitted in and supported by an inner container holder 16 which is fitted in an outer container holder 18. Disposed above said bed 4 is a transverse container slide frame 21 supported by the upright 19 of the press framework and provided with a transversely extending slide groove in which said outer container holder is guided for transverse movement.

Container-moving means is provided for dissolving the meshing between the container 15 and die 6 when it is desired to move the container 15 transversely with respect to the inner and outer container holders l6 and 18. Thus, though not clearly seen in this embodiment, a fluid pressure-powered cylinder mechanism as incorporated in the outer container holder 18, and this mechanism has a piston rod 17 rigidly connected at its upper end to the inner container holder [6, whereby the container 15 is slightly vertically moved in the axial direction.

On the other hand, the outer container holder 18 is provided with means for moving the container 15 transversely with respect to the outer container holder 18 and container slide frame 21. Thus, in this embodiment, a fluid pressurepowered, horizontally driven cylinder mechanism 22 is incorporated in the outer container holder l8 and has a piston rod 23 fixed at its right-hand end in position, whereby the container l5 and the inner and outer container holders l6 and 18 are moved transversely along said slide groove 20,

According to the present invention, the container holder is provided with piercing preparatory means equipped with piercing-tool-attaching means. Thus, in the illustrated embodiment, the outer container holder [8 is provided with piercing-tool-attaching means positioned at the right-hand side of the container 15, and a vertical hole 24 is positioned a little to the right-hand side of the outer container holder l8, in

which hole 24 is disposed a fluid pressure-powered cylinder mechanism. Thus, a cylinder 25 is fitted in said hole 24 and has a piston rod 27 fitted therein and rigidly connected at its lower end to the outer container holder 18, the upper end of said cylinder 25 being formed with a piercing tool rest 26 for supporting a piercing tool 28 which is intended to be attached to the mandrel, the arrangement being such that the piercing tool 28 supported on the piercing tool rest 26 is upwardly moved by supplying fluid pressure to the upper pressure chamber of the cylinder 25.

As described above, in the present invention, it is so arranged that when the container 15 is moved leftward until its axis comes into alignment with the auxiliary operation centerline C the axis of the piercing-tool-attaching means is aligned with the piercing operation centerline C,.

In the arrangement described above, the piercing operation is effected at the piercing operation centerline C, in the following manner.

The container 15 positioned at the piercing operation centerline is moved downward until the lower end surface thereof bears against the upper surface of the die 6, which is then closed by the backup rod 7 and the container 15 is firmly pressed against the die 6 by ordinary clamping means (not shown). In this condition, the upset stem 1 and mandrel carrying a piercing tool 280 attached to the lower end thereof in ad vance are integrally moved downward to effect the upsetting of a billet 29 already received in the container 15, The piercing tool 280 continues moving downward to pierce the billet 29. ln the final period of this piercing operation, the backup rod 7 is moved downward to open the die 6 and the discard of the billet falls into the opened space thus defined, whereupon the piercing operation of the billet is completed. The mandrel is then moved upward. The manner of attaching the piercing tool 28 to the mandrel 3 is shown in FIG. 2 wherein the lower end of the mandrel 3 is provided with a recess 30 adapted to receive the shaft portion 33 of the piercing tool 28, said shaft portion 33 being provided with a groove 34 semicircular in cross section extending around the entire periphery thereof, it being so arranged that balls 3| built in the mandrel and inwardly urged by coiled compression springs 33 engage in the groove 34 so that the piercing tool 28 may be temporarily held by the mandrel 3. Thus, when the mandrel is moved upward after piercing, the frictional force between the piercing tool 29 and billet 29 causes the balls to move outward against the compressive force of the coiled compression springs 33 to be disengaged from the groove 34, so that the piercing tool leaves the mandrel 3 and falls into the space in the die 6 together with the discard,

Upon the completion of the piercing operation described above, the container 15 is slightly moved upward (by the up ward movement of the piston rod 17) until the condition of engagement between the lower end of the container l5 and the upper end of the die 6 is dissolved and then the container 15 and the inner and outer container holders l6 and 18 are moved leftward until the container l5 comes into alignment with the auxiliary operation centerline C,. At the auxiliary operation centerline C. auxiliary operation will be effected. That is to say, the ejecting rod 13 is first moved upward to effect the so-called ejecting operation, or to upwardly project the hollow billet having been subjected to the piercing operation described above, container-cleaning means (not shown) is then inserted into the container to clean the inner wall thereof and finally the so-called charging operation, i.e. the insertion of a new billet into the container by means of a manipulator (not shown) is carried out. On the other hand, in the present invention the operation of attaching a new piercing tool 28b is effected at the piercing operation centerline C, concurrently with the aforesaid auxiliary operation in the following manner. Thus, when the aforesaid piercing operation is taking place, a new piercing tool 28]; has been placed on the piercing tool rest 26 of the piercing-tool-attaching means. When this piercing tool 28!) comes into alignment with the piercing operation centerline C,, fluid pressure is caused to act in the upper pressure chamber of the cylinder 25 to push up the piercing tool 28h, so that the latter is fitted to the lower end ofthe mandrel 3 as described above.

As having so far been described, in the present invention, concurrently with the piercing operation taking place at the piercing operation centerline C,, a new piercing tool is placed on the piercing tool rest outside it and concurrently with the auxiliary operation taking place at the auxiliary operation centerline C the operation of attaching the new piercing tool to the mandrel is effected; since these operations are reliably carried out in a short time without involving any danger in hightempcrature condition, the press cycle time can be greatly reduced and moreover since the time required for the operation of attaching a new piercing tool, according to the present invention, is regular and substantially constant, the press cycle time for each cycle can he made regular, which is desirable from the viewpoint of productivity.

An embodiment shown in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 illustrates a metal-billct-piercing press wherein piercing preparat try means is provided with piercing-tool-attaching means for carrying out piercing-tool-attaching operation and mandrel-cooling means for cooling a mandrel.

The basic arrangement of the press in this embodiment is the same as that of the preceding one; that is to say, the upset stem 1 and mandrel 3 are disposed on the die-receiving disk 5 while the die 6 and backup rod 7 are disposed at the piercing operation centerline C,, and the ejecting cylinder I] and ejecting rod 13 are disposed at the auxiliary operation centerline C and the container l5 supported by the inner and outer container holders l6 and I8 is adapted to be reciprocated along the transverse slide frame 2, between the piercing and auxiliary operation centerlines C, and C This embodiment is additionally provided with mandrelcooling means.

The upper end flange of the stem 1 is provided with a cooling water inlet hole 40 and cooling water for cooling the mandrel introduced through said hole 40 is passed through an axial groove 4! provided at the lower end of the mandrel holder 2 (in order to maintain in good condition the accuracy of alignment between the upset stem 1 and the mandrel holder 2, it is usual with this kind of press to so arrange that even when the mandrel holder 2 and upset stem 1 are both positioned at the upper dead center, the lower'end of the mandrel holder 2 is substantially closely fitted in the upset stem 1', for this reason, the water passage groove 41 for cooling water is provided), a clearance 42 between the upset stem 1 and mandrel 3 and an axial groove 43 (the purpose thereof being substantially the same as described above) provided on the inner periphery of the lower end of the upset stem 1 and is drained from the lower end of the upset stem 1.

Piercing preparatory means is provided at the left-hand side of the outer container holder 18. The left-hand end of the outer container holder is bored with a vertical hole in which a vertical shaft 44 is fitted, to which shaft is keyed a swing frame 45, and the shaft end ofa fluid pressure-powered rotary actuator 46 is connected to the upper end of said shaft, it being so arranged that by driving this rotary actuator 46, the swing frame 45 is swung. Cooling-water-receiving means 48 and piercing-tool-attaching means 49 are vertically provided on the swing frame 45, and the apparatus will now be described in detail with reference to FIG. 5.

The swing frame 45 is provided with two vertical holes 50 and 51, and fitted in said hole 50 is a fluid pressured-powered cylinder mechanism 52 having a piston rod fixed at the lower end thereof to the swing frame 45 and a cylinder 54 integrally formed at the upper end thereof with a water-receiving box 58 provided with a space 56 and a drain hole 52 communicating with said space, said water-receiving box 58 having an annular packing 59 of flexible material such as rubber secured to the open top end thereof, it being so arranged that by driving said cylinder mechanism 52, the water-receiving box 58 is moved up and down. A similar cylinder mechanism 60 is fitted in the other hole 51 and has a cylinder filintegrally formed at the upper end thereof with apiercing tool rest 62 for supporting an intended piercing tool 28, it being so arranged that by driving said cylinder mechanism 60, the piercing tool rest 62 is moved up and down.

The apparatus of this embodiment is so arranged that the container is moved rightward and when the axis thereof comes into alignment with the auxiliary operation centerline C the coolingwater receiving means 48 and piercing-tool-attaching means 49 are moved to the piercing operation centerline C and that in that position, by driving the rotary actuator 46, both means 48 and 49 are alternately aligned with the piercing operation centerline C The piercing operation by the press of this embodiment is effected in the same manner as the preceding embodiment, but the manner of the piercing preparatory operation will now be described.

Concurrently with the auxiliary operation taking place at the auxiliary operation centerline C mandrel-cooling operation and new piercing-tool-attaching operation are effected at the piercing operation centerline C in the following manner. Thus, at the piercing operation centerline, the mandrel-cooling operation is effected and when the container 15 is aligned with the auxiliary operation centerline, the swing frame 45 has already been swung in a clockwise direction (as seen in FIG. 4; hereinafter the same) and the cooling-water-receiving means 48 is aligned with the piercing operation centerline C,.

After the cooling-water-receiving means 48 has been aligned with the piercing operation centerline C as described above, the mandrel-cooling operation is effected in such a manner that by driving the cylinder mechanism 52, the waterreceiving box 58 is upwardly moved and the upper-end surface thereof, i.e. the packing 59 is urged against the lower-end surface of the upset stem 1 to close the lower opening therein and in this condition cooling water is passed through the water passage hole 40. The mandrel 3 is thus cooled and the water discharged from the lower opening in the water receiving box 58 is discharged outside the press through a flexible tube 63. Upon the completion of the required cooling operation, the

water-receiving box is downwardly moved and the operation of attaching a new piercing tool IS effected in such a manner that after the swing frame 45 is swung counterclockwise to bring the piercing-tool-attaching means into alignment with the piercing operation centerline C, the piercing tool rest 62 of said means is upwardly moved. Since the piercing tool rest 62, which was positioned outside the press during the preceding piercing operation at the piercing operation centerline C,, has already supported a new piercing tool thereon, the abovementioned upward movement causes the new piercing tool to be fitted on the lower end of the mandrel 3.

As having so far been described, in the press having said means, during the piercing operation taking place at the piercing operation centerline C,, a new piercing tool rest positioned outside the press and the container is moved to the auxiliary operation centerline C where the auxiliary operation takes place, during which the operation of cooling the mandrel and the operation of attaching a new piercing tool are reliably cf fected at the piercing operation centerline C in a short time without involving any danger in high-temperature condition,

so that there is achieved the effect that the press cycle time can be greatly decreased, and further, since the time required for the cooling operation and the piercing-tool-attaching operation is regular and substantially constant, the press cycle for each cycle is regular, which is desirable in the viewpoint of productivity.

What l claim is:

l. A metal-piercing press of the type having a piercing operation centerline; an auxiliary operation centerline disposed in parallel therewith; piercing means disposed at said piercing operation centerline; auxiliary operating means disposed at said auxiliary operation centerline; a single container movable alternately between said piercing and auxiliary operation centerlines, said container having a piercing preparatory means integral therewith and on the side thereof opposite from said auxiliary operation centerline, said pierc ing preparatory means including means for attaching a piercing tool to said piercing means; and means to move said container transversely from said piercing operation centerline to said auxiliary operation centerline and to simultaneously move said piercing preparatory means to said piercing operation centerline such that said means for attaching a piercing tool is aligned with said piercing means.

2v A metal-piercing press as claimed in claim l,wherein' said piercing preparatory means further comprises means for cooling said piercing means, said cooling means being parallel with said attaching means, and means for selectively aligning said cooling means and said attaching means with said piercing means when said container is moved to said auxiliary operation centerline.

3. A metal-piercing press as claimed in claim 2, wherein said selective aligning means comprises a horizontally swingable frame attached to said container.

4. A metal piercing press as described in claim I wherein the piercing-tool-attaching means has cylinder means serving as means for upwardly and downwardly moving it on said piercing operation centerline when it is aligned with the latter.

5. A metal piercing press as described in claim I wherein said piercing-tooLattaching means and cooling means have cylinder means for upwardly and downwardly moving them on said piercing operation centerline when they are individually aligned with the latter.

6. A metal piercing press as described in claim 1 wherein the piercing-tool-attaching means is provided at the upper end thereof with a tool rest for carrying and supporting a piercing tool removably attachable to the front end of the piercing means.

7. A metal-piercing press as described in claim 5, wherein said cooling means has cooling-water-receiving means for receiving cooling water introduced from above said piercing means when the cooling means comes into alignment and is upwardly moved and urged against the front end thereof. 

1. A metal-piercing press of the type having a piercing operation centerline; an auxiliary operation centerline disposed in parallel therewith; piercing means disposed at said piercing operation centerline; auxiliary operating means disposed at said auxiliary operation centerline; a single container movable alternately between said piercing and auxiliary operation centerlines, said container having a piercing preparatory means integral therewith and on the side thereof opposite from said auxiliary operation centerline, said piercing preparatory means including means for attaching a piercing tool to said piercing means; and means to move said container transversely from said piercing operation centerline to said auxiliary operation centerline and to simultaneously move said piercing preparatory means to said piercing operation centerline such that said means for attaching a piercing tool is aligned with said piercing means.
 2. A metal-piercing press as claimed in claim 1, wherein said piercing preparatory means further comprises means for cooling said piercing means, said cooling means being parallel with said attaching means, and means for selectively aligning said cooling means and said attaching means with said piercing means when said container is moved to said auxiliary operation centerline.
 3. A metal-piercing press as claimed in claim 2, wherein said selective aligning means comprises a horizontally swingable frame attached to said container.
 4. A metal piercing press as described in claim 1 wherein the piercing-tool-attaching means has cylinder means serving as means for upwardly and downwardly moving it on said piercing operation centerline when it is aligned with the latter.
 5. A metal piercing press as described in claim 1 wherein said piercing-tool-attaching means and cooling means have cylinder means for upwardly and downwardly moving them on said piercing operation centerline when they are individually aligned with the latter.
 6. A metal piercing press as described in claim 1 wherein the piercing-tool-attaching means is provided at the upper end thereof with a tool rest for carrying and supporting a piercing tool removably attachable to the front end of the piercing means.
 7. A metal-piercing press as described in claim 5, wherein said cooling means has cooling-water-receiving means for receiving cooling water introduced from above said piercing means when the cooling means comes into alignment and is upwardly moved and urged against the front end thereof. 